SUNDAY, MARCH 4, 2012 | LENT
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
YEAR B
Old Testament Genesis 17:1–7, 15–16
Psalm Psalm 22:23–31
Epistle Romans 5:1–11
Gospel Mark 8:27–38
GOSPEL
Mark 8:27–38
27 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” 28 And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” 29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” 30 And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.
31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life4 will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37 For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Grace Mercy and Peace be unto for God our Father and Savior Jesus Christ His Son our Lord. AMEN
The Focus for this evening is the Third Petition of the Lord's Prayer.
As children grow up they are often asked to do things that are good for them, but they do not want to do. Things like eat your vegetables, or clean up your room, are activities that are good but children try to refuse them because they are strong willed. I definitely has seen this as a scout leader, a camp counselor, and as a father. Even before they can say I don’t want to, children can be very stubborn, even if it is for their own good. And as people get older, can remain very stubborn. Its part of the reason why meetings with other people can be so frustrating sometimes, because people's desires don’t always line up and we want to see our hopes and dreams realized. Being stubborn or strong willed can help us achieve great things, and be a good thing. Or it can prevent us from realizing destructive actions and then it is a bad thing. it just depends on where our wills are taking us. For tonight, when a will is mentioned, it is the thoughts and desires that demonstrates our self-control and motivates our deliberate actions. Tonight we look at what it means to follow our Will, when in the third petition, Christ invites us to pray, "Thy Will be done". God calls us to follow in his will, because through him, we receive his blessings. The only problem is that we are a sinful, and extremely stubborn, and because of it, we do not like bending our wills to anyone. This is part of the reason why we go through the penitential season of lent, to reflect on that rejection. But we can rejoice that Christ has followed his father’s will, because through him, God will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray in the Third Petition, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
God has told us his will for us(what he wants us to do), He is not keeping it secret from us. He has given it to us in the Law of Moses, the prophets to the People of Israel, The epistles of the apostles, and the Gospels written by the evangelists. We can summarize it simply as If you Love me keep my Commandments which are in their simplest forms, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
It all sounds pretty simple. Unfortunately, we have a small problem, We have rejected his will. We are the children telling our father that we do not want to eat our vegetables. We rejected his will, because we think that our plans, our desires, and our wants make more sense than God’s and so we act according to our will instead of our own. It is the reason for the fall of Adam and eve. It is the reason why we will never be perfect. Just like asking a child to eat his vegetables, God’s will for us is good and beneficial, but Our will is short sighted and often if not always contrary to the word of God. The difficulty come from the fact that we are stubborn in our opposition to Gods will. We think that our way of living is easier, that it is the smooth road, but instead our sinfulness only leads us into the rocky hills. Instead of wanting to take up the cross, we want to skip strait to the glory of eternal life.
Even the apostles were not immune to these desires. Our Gospel for tonight contains the confession of St Peter that Jesus is the Christ. Were that the entire reading, Peter would come out of this reading looking pretty good, but he didn’t stop there. After Peter’s confession 30 And Jesus strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. Here Christ is laying out in plain words what the will of God is for himself, how he is going to suffer, but then rise again, foretelling the Gospel. But when Peter heard these things, he took Jesus aside and began to tell him No way. Here peter has just heard the plan for the salvation of humanity, and he’s telling the message bearer, your lying. Whether he did not believe in the power of Jesus or simply wanted an earthly ruler the result is the same, opposition to the will of God. And Jesus calls him out rebuking Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
It is kind of understandable why peter wanted to avoid these predictions. The Christ can be an earthly ruler too, one who would reign with justice and authority. There would be peace on earth, at least for a little while. And for those alive at that time, it would have been an easy thing to live through. But earthly peace is always temporary. Jesus recognized that what he was about to do was not the easy road, instead it would be the most difficult path imaginable. That is why on Maundy Thursday after the supper he went into the Garden to pray. 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The way to Calvary wasn't easy or one, but Jesus chose it nonetheless - for us. He did not need to come down and die for his own sake, for he could have remained with his father and never experience suffering. Following in the will of God was not the easy path, but unlike Peter and ourselves, he was not setting his mind of the things of man, but upon the things of his father in heaven. The father’s will is that not one man suffer and fall away from his glory, and so he sent his son to die in one of the worst possible manners, with the sinless conviction, so that on the cross he would bear the weight of all our sins and desires that are contrary to Gods word.
God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come.
Because of his son, we can experience his will, because He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. He did not stay dead, but instead rose again, just as he said, so that death the devil, and our sinful will would be defeated. He sent us his holy spirit through the waters of baptism, so that his will that all men would be saved would happen is us as well. Through Christ who strengthens us we are able to live in his will, and receive forgiveness when our own will gets in the way. This is His good and gracious will. AMEN
The Focus for this evening is the Third Petition of the Lord's Prayer.
As children grow up they are often asked to do things that are good for them, but they do not want to do. Things like eat your vegetables, or clean up your room, are activities that are good but children try to refuse them because they are strong willed. I definitely has seen this as a scout leader, a camp counselor, and as a father. Even before they can say I don’t want to, children can be very stubborn, even if it is for their own good. And as people get older, can remain very stubborn. Its part of the reason why meetings with other people can be so frustrating sometimes, because people's desires don’t always line up and we want to see our hopes and dreams realized. Being stubborn or strong willed can help us achieve great things, and be a good thing. Or it can prevent us from realizing destructive actions and then it is a bad thing. it just depends on where our wills are taking us. For tonight, when a will is mentioned, it is the thoughts and desires that demonstrates our self-control and motivates our deliberate actions. Tonight we look at what it means to follow our Will, when in the third petition, Christ invites us to pray, "Thy Will be done". God calls us to follow in his will, because through him, we receive his blessings. The only problem is that we are a sinful, and extremely stubborn, and because of it, we do not like bending our wills to anyone. This is part of the reason why we go through the penitential season of lent, to reflect on that rejection. But we can rejoice that Christ has followed his father’s will, because through him, God will is done on earth as it is in heaven.
We pray in the Third Petition, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
God has told us his will for us(what he wants us to do), He is not keeping it secret from us. He has given it to us in the Law of Moses, the prophets to the People of Israel, The epistles of the apostles, and the Gospels written by the evangelists. We can summarize it simply as If you Love me keep my Commandments which are in their simplest forms, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. and the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
It all sounds pretty simple. Unfortunately, we have a small problem, We have rejected his will. We are the children telling our father that we do not want to eat our vegetables. We rejected his will, because we think that our plans, our desires, and our wants make more sense than God’s and so we act according to our will instead of our own. It is the reason for the fall of Adam and eve. It is the reason why we will never be perfect. Just like asking a child to eat his vegetables, God’s will for us is good and beneficial, but Our will is short sighted and often if not always contrary to the word of God. The difficulty come from the fact that we are stubborn in our opposition to Gods will. We think that our way of living is easier, that it is the smooth road, but instead our sinfulness only leads us into the rocky hills. Instead of wanting to take up the cross, we want to skip strait to the glory of eternal life.
Even the apostles were not immune to these desires. Our Gospel for tonight contains the confession of St Peter that Jesus is the Christ. Were that the entire reading, Peter would come out of this reading looking pretty good, but he didn’t stop there. After Peter’s confession 30 And Jesus strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 31 And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. Here Christ is laying out in plain words what the will of God is for himself, how he is going to suffer, but then rise again, foretelling the Gospel. But when Peter heard these things, he took Jesus aside and began to tell him No way. Here peter has just heard the plan for the salvation of humanity, and he’s telling the message bearer, your lying. Whether he did not believe in the power of Jesus or simply wanted an earthly ruler the result is the same, opposition to the will of God. And Jesus calls him out rebuking Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
It is kind of understandable why peter wanted to avoid these predictions. The Christ can be an earthly ruler too, one who would reign with justice and authority. There would be peace on earth, at least for a little while. And for those alive at that time, it would have been an easy thing to live through. But earthly peace is always temporary. Jesus recognized that what he was about to do was not the easy road, instead it would be the most difficult path imaginable. That is why on Maundy Thursday after the supper he went into the Garden to pray. 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
The way to Calvary wasn't easy or one, but Jesus chose it nonetheless - for us. He did not need to come down and die for his own sake, for he could have remained with his father and never experience suffering. Following in the will of God was not the easy path, but unlike Peter and ourselves, he was not setting his mind of the things of man, but upon the things of his father in heaven. The father’s will is that not one man suffer and fall away from his glory, and so he sent his son to die in one of the worst possible manners, with the sinless conviction, so that on the cross he would bear the weight of all our sins and desires that are contrary to Gods word.
God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come.
Because of his son, we can experience his will, because He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. He did not stay dead, but instead rose again, just as he said, so that death the devil, and our sinful will would be defeated. He sent us his holy spirit through the waters of baptism, so that his will that all men would be saved would happen is us as well. Through Christ who strengthens us we are able to live in his will, and receive forgiveness when our own will gets in the way. This is His good and gracious will. AMEN
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